The 29th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is being hosted in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, 26-27 February 2018. The Bahamas advance delegation, lead by the Minister of Transport and Local Government, the Honourable Frankie Campbell, will participate in a number of high level meetings leading up to the Inter-Sessional assembly.

The Bahamas’ full delegation is expected to arrive in Port-au-Prince on Saturday 24 February. Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon. Hubert A. Minnis is the Head of Delegation. Prime Minister Minnis will be accompanied by Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, the Hon. Renward Wells; Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Dionisio D’Aguilar; Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Darren Henfield; His Excellency Joshua Sears, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Prime Minister, and Mr. Gregory Rahming, Acting Director, Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources.

Key items to be addressed on the agenda of the Inter-Sessional assembly include Disaster Management and Recovery, Tourism, Regional Security, and Blacklisting and De-Risking. CARICOM Heads will also discuss the Enlargement Policy for the Community with a view to addressing applications received for Associate Membership in CARICOM.

The Caribbean Community currently comprises 15 Member States and 5 Associate Member States. Member States include Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

Associate Member States include: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos.

CARICOM Heads of Government convene two meetings annually. The major meeting is the Regular Meeting of The Conference, which is a formal meeting that is held annually during the first week of July and which coincides with the anniversary of the signing of the original Treaty of Chaguaramas, on what is now known as CARICOM Day.

Inter-Sessional Meetings of The Conference are held annually in either February or March and are less formal and less ceremonial than Regular Meetings. The bi-annual meetings provide CARICOM Heads with the opportunity to cover a wider range of topical issues within a given period.

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